I have always liked coin collecting. When I was a kid, there was not a lot to do in the tiny town I grew up in. I think there were 100 people in town, when everyone was home on Sunday. One of the things we would do, is get our parents to take us to the neighboring town, where there was a bank, to get rolls of coins from the tellers, to search through. My favorites were the dimes, where it was quick and easy to pull out the Mercury dimes, from the Roosevelts and refill the rolls and go back and get new rolls.

Today, coin collecting, in the United States, has been revived by the US Mint issuing the state quarters. We are almost through the 50 state quarters, and the US government relizes they have a good thing going with coin collectors. I have seen 1 statistic where there are now 140 million collectors of these things. That includes me, I have made a set for all 5 of my children, including the silver ones.

I noticed bacck in 1999, an error in the Delaware quarter, that was sitting on the desk, in my office. I could not figure out at first, what was the matter with the coin, until I noticed after several days that the “e” was missing off of the words “The First Stat”e””. That was to be the first of many errors the Mint was to make on these coins. The Delaware error is common, and was caused by grease. It is worth about $20.

I am collecting a set of error quarters, for myself, as a different project, to complement the sets I made for my kids. I am not worrying about Mint marks,and such. I am just trying to get a good error coin for each State. The Mint does a pretty good job on quality, so these coins are difficult to find in change, but they are out there. I have included pictures of some of my favorites. These include; a Maryland, Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida struck on a 5 cent planchet; Maryland and Virginia with clips from the coins; South Carolina and Virginia with a missing layer of “silver” from the reverse; Conneticut that was mistruck, and my favorite, Missouri, that the Mint caught the error and then cancelled the coin by waffling it. Somehow, the coin then escaped from the Mint and made it out into circulation, where I saved it from destruction.

No one knows how many of these errors the mint makes, or, how many coins escape from the waffle machine. They are scarce, and you should be on the look out for these and other error coins. The payoff can be high. The ones I pictured are worth up to $5,000. Not a bad deal if you are getting change back for a dollar. The lucky finder can then start their own collection or,with a membership, will soon be able to sell it to collectors on WorthPoint, or through one of our auction house partners.

Good hunting! I will continue to show, in future blogs, other error coins from the US Mint.

155 Comments

i found a rare coin..get this a delaware quarter, looks to be all silver no cooper..and its a philly or a p..my dad said they don`t make the silver ones in philly..it sure does look silver..let me know what you think..i`m going to take it to a store to see if its all silver..email me at jj3742@comcast.net..i may want to sell it..

I have a quater I found about 5 or 6 years ago while I was at work it was the New Jersey coin and it just came out the lady had just opened the the roll and gave me my change well I noticed it on the back side that it had a smuge on it an the R was gone it said dolla so I put it my coin holdr so it couldnt be touched. I cant find no one with this error if it is another out I would like to know because the fewer found the better. let me know if you have seen or heard of this error or not.

The type of error you describe is normally caused by “debris” caught between the die and the coin planchet (or flan). The result is that the die is unable to make a complete impression and appears smudged in that area. The normal debris is grease used in the manufacturing process. Such errors are not particularly rare. As might be expected, the location and size of the smudge can vary, and thus the impact on the coin. Relatively speaking, a missing R is not overly dramatic. Without seeing the item, (or a great picture), evaluations are speculative. Condition also will have an impact. Normally errors of this type sell for under $25.

Hi Brent,
Hate to tell you, but that is normal in the Wyoming quarter. I thought it was a mistake the first time I saw one as it looks very strange. See the link below. You can look for the one with the double saddle horn. There will be collectors for it, but sounds as if you need a magnifying glass to see it.

I have a quarter that was a mint mistake on it from Wisconsin (1884) State Quarter with the cow the cheese and the corn with a left leaf it looks like. is this coin worth more than face value if so,.How much is it worth.I would like to sell it can someone get back to me on this.

This error or flaw is caused by the same “problem’ noted in a previous query regarding a missing “R” – usually by “debris” caught between the die and the coin planchet (or flan). The result is that the die is unable to make a complete impression and appears smudged in that area. As indicated above, the location and size of the smudge can vary, and thus the impact on the coin. The missing head makes this a slighly more interesting flaw. Without seeing the item, (or a great picture), evaluations are speculative. Condition also will have an impact. Pricing guidelines would also place it under $25.

My son brought home a 2003 Illinois State quarter. At first glance it looks normal until you hold it – and flip it over. The quarter is only half as thick as it should be and when
you flip it over there is nothing on the obverse side. It smooth, copper colored with few pit marks here and there. If it’s a fake or trick coin or an error, I can’t find any information about it. Do you have any clue why this coin would look this way?

Quarters are composed of a “sandwich” of metals with copper nickel on the top and bottom and copper in the middle. Not seeing the coin, it would seem that you have a quarter that was “sliced in two” and you have one half of the result.

CAN SOMEONE HELP ME OUT. I GOT SOME CHANGE TODAY. IT’S A CONNECTICUT STATE QUARTER…BUT IT’S THE SIZE OF A NICKEL AND IS VERY LIGHT…SOUNDS LIKE A PENNY WHEN IT HITS THE COUNTER TOP. THE COIN IS PRETTY WORN DOWN. PLEASE EMAIL ME AT DANNY95725@YAHOO.COM IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS. THANKS!!!

Does anyone know about the extra leaf cactus for AZ, is it worth anything?
Please email me if you do, I don’t know much about coin collecting but can see how addictive of a hobby this can be!
Thanks for any info.

Hi, I found a i think 2002 Tenn Quarter with no copper in it at all and i took in to Candi Coins and let the owner Larry, Look at it he put it on a ditatal Scale and weighed it along with 16 other Same Quarters and it waighed less then all the ones he put on the scale. He been in the coin shop for over 40 years and never seen one like this, Has anyone know about this coin. Thanks Larry,,,,,,,,,

I found what appears to be a San Francisco mint West Virgina “silver” state quarter. There is no visible copper on the sides of it. I cannot seem to find any information on this quarter. Does anyone know anything about this?

@Patrice
The silver proof coins were minted in San Fransisco, and contain 90% silver. If your quarter has an S for the mint mark and no copper on the edges, it should be a silver coin. It should weigh slightly more than a regular quarter (6.3g, as opposed to 5.7g), and make a distinctly different sound when dropped onto a hard surface. Don’t do the drop test unless the coin has already been circulated, or you may damage it and reduce the numismatic value.

Hello. I just bought a quarter off e-bay for $3.00. It is the 2000 Virginia quarter, the 1 is missing from the 1607-2000 date that is imprinted on the quarter. Rather it looks like ” 607-2000 ” (without the quotations of course). Could it be worth anything?

hello I have a Vermont state quarter miss struck. almost missing is the united state of america about 1/8 inch miss struck it look funny got it with some change. What are we looking at in price. I got offered 200.00 for it should I take it or wait for a better offer? 2001 P Vermont

I have a 2006 North Dakota State Quarter missing the clad layer on the back side. I had three in my posession until i put two in a vending machine when i realized they did not sound just right. I kept the last one and took it to a dealer who did not have an interest in it. He put it in a sleeve for me. The exposed copper is no longer shiny. I know there was a whole roll of them. When I was at the cashier getting my change she broke open a roll and dumped them in the register. Any idea what its worth and to who?

I have a washington quarter the size of a nickel,mint mark and date are not available due to the edge being roled in. I can not find anything online to compare it to cause it is a quarter on a quarter planchet.Is this rare or is there a name for this error??

I found a misstamped Denver mint Tennessee state quarter. The hair of George Washington has extra metal dropped on the head. You can see the hair was stamped on the extra metal. The back side of this same coin is uneven as well. Is it worth any money?

I have a wisconsin quarter that seems to not have any copper at all, it has a P for the mint i havent found any other errors on it yet. but i was just curious about it. i have read that most of the silver state quarters have a S. so i dont know. is there any thing that you can tell me about it. its also heavier and sounds like it is silver.

this quarter that i found in my attic on each side it has one george washington head on both sides is it worth money email me at btimm5@new.rr.com thank you! i might sell it but i dont no if i will im going to keep looking

I have a State quarter than has George Washington on both sides instead of on one side. They usually have something different on the back side. It looks normal until you turn it over,then you have George Washington on the back side also. Is it worth more than face value?

I found a error state quarter South Carolina both clad layers are missing.My wife works in a bank and she found this.I took this to a coin dealer and he said looks real and weight was right,he didn’t know what it would be worth.I am thinking of sending this out to be graded should i do this?I have not heard of any other of these

I have come accross a 2002 TN quarter that has a balooned area on both sides (different locations) of the quarter. The balloon on one side doesn’t effect the reverse side. It’s about at 2 o’clock if looking at each side. I like to collect currencies but don’t know much about the errors.

The dates 1787-1999 appear on three of the quarters issued in 1999: Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The date 1787 refers to the date that these states ratified the U.S. Constitution, it is not an error.

I just came across a 2000 New Hampshire State quarter that has no silvering (is copper colored) on the back side, but does have it on the front… has anyone come across this before and does this make it a rare coin? The lady that gave it to me as change said that the whole role was like the one she gave me, and it appears to be in mint condition.

i have been given a quater dollar by mistake and it has a eagle looking to the right withIDAHO ON top but on the other side there is a upside down liberty head and in small print on the side it has “in god we trust”is this worth any thing i dont know because i am welsh(british)

From a manufacturing standpoint, the only way i believe this could happen is for a coin to be passed through the striking process twice and the second time, the coin was reversed. In that case, some portion of the reverse image would be seen on boht sides o fte coin.

It is more likely to be a “magician” coin – one that was made up of two coins, sliced and the two heads joined together.

As stated above, a sandwich process is used for the metal planchet in our quarters (as well as dimes and halves). It consists of a center layer of copper with a copper nickel layer on each side. There are instances where one of the copper nickel layers is missing from one side of the planchet and the center copper core is exposed on the one side. These are relatively rare and would be thinner than a normal quarter. If yours is one of these it would have value, based on condition (e.g. new or circulated)

I just got change back from a mcdonalds and i noticed that my states quarter didnt have and actual state on it. On the back was the Northern Mariana Islands and i was just wondering if anyone knew if this was worth anything or if it was just a counterfiet coin?

The US mint has become a savvy marketer. Like all good marketers, when a good thing happens with their product, it is hard to stop. The State quarters were a huge success by anyone’s imagination, so when the series ended the mint was hard pressed as to what to do for an encore. (No one can deny that the State quarters reintroduced coin collecting to millions including my 80+ year old mom.) Thus the mint decided to extend the quarter series for the US territories. The Mariana Islands reverses, that you discovered, are one of those quarters. The others include the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and America Somoa. For those of us that are purest, this was an inconvienience as there is not room in our coin book, as this was never contemplated when the quarter series came out. On the other hand it has extended the fun for many.

Susan,
If the quarter has no copper layer, it is likely either a silver proof that was circulated (note these were only made at the San Francisco mint and would have an “S” mint mark), or the quarter was stamped on a nickel planchet. The nickel planchet is smaller than a quarter so if this were the case, the edge/rim should be incomplete.

As stated above, missing parts of the design are normally the result of a foreign substance such as grease that has ended up on the die and “filled in” the depression that would make the design. This can occur at any part of the design. It is not considered a major error, but can have a small premium value, depending on the impact of the missing design. This one would seem to have a minor design impact.

oh my god that quarter I found that is an Arkansas state quarter with head quarters on the front. I turned it over to look at it better and behind the tree a man is laying down and a woman is bent over and as Clinton said :they are not having sex O M G and it says birth place of Clinton haaaaaaaaa funny